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Bc it known that I, JOHN E. I-IAWIHNS, of Lansingburg, in the county of Rensselaer, and State of New York, have invented a new and useful improvement in Machine for Manufacturing Crackers; and I do hereby declare that the'following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of' the machine.

Figure 2 isran end elevation as seen from the rear.

Figure 3 is an end elevation as seen from the front. p

Figured is a detached view of the mechanism by which a single cracker is pressed, pricked, and stamped by a single operation.

. Figure 5 is another view of the same device, with the prickers and stampers pressed down; and v Figure 6 is a view of the under side of the lower or face-plate of said pressing, stamping,'and pricking device.

. This machine ,operates by first forming the'dough into a Aseries of cylindrical strips, and in cutting from the endsthereof short sections, which are pressed, pricked, and stamped, at a single operation, upon an endless apron, from which they are delivered upon pans of sheet metal fully prepared for the oven'.

A is the lframe of the machine. B is the main driving-shaft, to which the power is applied, Y B is a short crank upon-the end of said main driving-shaft. C is a long shaft, pivoted at one end on the crank-pin B', and at the other end, at c, to'an oscillating plate, C, which is pivoted on the journal of the front roller D, which `carriesthe endless apron passing round the two rollers D and D. .l Eis a ratchet-wheel, rmly xed upon the airis of roller D, and e is a pawl, by which said ratchet-wheel and roller D are rotated by an intermittent motion. F is a shaft, pivoted at its lower end, i'n common with shaft C, upon the crank-pin B', and at the other cnd to .an oscillating lever, F', which is pvoted on the journal of grooved roller H. 'G is a ratchet-wheel on the outer end of the axis of said grooved roller H, and g is a pawl, by which an intermittent rotary motion is given to said ratehet-vrheelG, and to the grooved roller H.' H1 is another grooved roller, placed a little higher in the frame than roller H, the peripheries of which rollers come in contact, or nearly so, and the annular grooves in which, t lt, are exactly opposite each other. I'is a spring, which operates the knife hereinafter described, and J and J are'springs', which raise the decken or, Vin other words, the mechanism for pressing, pricking, and stamping the crackers` K is-a reciprocating knife, moving between two plates m and n, cutting oil' -a section of l each of the cylindrical strips of dough (which passthrcugh holes in said knife) at each stroke. Said knife is moved in o ne'direction by a lever, i, pivoted to a cross-bar, l, and actuated by a, cam, i', on the main drivingshaft B, but is thrown suddenly in the opposite direction by the spring I when it makes its stroke to cut oi the sections of dough. T T T are vertical tubes immediately under the grooves lt t h in the rollers H Hl, which tubes receive the cylindrical strips of dough formed by said grooved rollers. Said tubes are separated from the lower vertical tubes T` T T by the plates m` and n, between which 4the knife plays, said plates having holes in` them corresponding with s aid tubes. l

' The dough is formed into cylindrical strips by passing between the rollers H H1, by means of the grooves t h la, andthese cylindrical strips, pending from the rollers, drop into the tubes T T T. It will be seen that, at each revolution of the driving-shaft B, the roller H, by means of the pawl g acting upon the ratchet-Wheel G', will be rotated tothe ear-tent of one tooth Lin the ratchet-Wheel. This movement will carry each of the dough cylinders down -,through 'one of the tubes T a' suiii-cient'distance to form a'. cracker by cutting oit' so much of it as has thus moved downward. At this movement the knife K is thrown forward by the spring l', cutting olf a short section from the-end of each of the dough-cylinders, sui'licient to form one cracker, and then the knife is moved back by means of the lever z', actuated by the cam z". -The sections of dough thus eut off fall'through the lower tubesT upon the endless apron L,`which alsohas an intermittent motion, communicated by the ratchet-wheel E and pawl ,'operated by the crank B', the shaft C, and oscillating plate C', as will be plainly seen -by reference to iig. 1 of the drawings. As' soon as the sections of -dough cut off by the knife K fall upon the endless apron the latter moves forward' by its intermittent motion, carrying a row of crackers under the decker, which I will now proceed to describe.

Said decker consists of two plates, o and p, rigidly attached and moving together, and tivo other plates esosz 2 r and s, in like manner rigidly attached and inoving together. This mechanism will be more easily understood by reference te figs. 4 and 5, each representing an independent decker, or presser, priclcer, and stamper, for a single cracker. l l g l The oscillating plate or lever F', shown in tig. 1, (there being corresponding mechanism on the opposite side ofthe machine,) as its forward end gees down, presses upon a projection, Q, extending from ther plate o through a slot, q, outside of the frame of the machine; and, the same pressure being given, bythe same means, en each end of said plate`,i't is depressed, carrying plates p, r, and s with it, until the iiauges t, on' the lower side ef plate s, reach the solid table or bearing on which the endless apron nieves, when the further downward movement of "the plates s and r will be arrestedby said flanges. -lheprickers v, which are small wires or needles iixed firmly at their upper ends in plate p, pass through perforations in plate s. The plates r and s are attached rigidly together by means of a` suitable number of rivets firmly affixed te each and passing loosely through holes in plate p. 'W is a stamping-block, upon the face of which a name'may be engraved. It is not desirable that this block, to make its impression in the cracker, should descend as low as the p'ri'ckers. There is, therefore, a'small space between the top of the block'and plate pwhen said plate is not pressed down, as will be seen in iig. 4, so that said stamping-block will not descend below the face of plate s until' the prickers have'penetrated some distance into the cracker; but when said plate p comes in contact with the upperisurface ofthe stamping-block it will press the same down, so as to make the proper impression in the cracker. Whenthc front ends 4ef the levers F are elevatedthe springs J and J will elevate the decker, consisting of plates o, p, r, and s, with their attachments; and, at-the Sametime, the spiral springs S will raise plate p until it c omes in contact with plate r, withdrawing the priekers until they come flush with the lower side of plate s, as shown in fig. 4; and, in like manner, the spiral springs uwill raise the stamping-block Wilush with the lower side of said plate s. -Thus it will be seen that the pressing, pricking, and stamping of, a row of crackers will be pcrformedsimultaneously by one operation of the machine. A.'

The lower sections '.l." of the dough-conducting tubes are Leach enclosed in a sliding-thimbleg and cach of said thimb'les passes through and is firmly fixed in a plate, X`, Figure 7, which plate' has projections y, with which plate p will come in contact as the presser descends, carrying downvsaid thimbles to the surface ef the endless apron as the knife makes itsstroke and cuts off the sections of dough, the ollice of said thimbles being to guide the crackers or sections of dough in their descent from thc lower ends of tubes '.l." to the'apron. As the decker rises said thimbles are carried up by spiral springs z until their lower ends are flush with the'lower ends of said tubes- T', so that the row. of crackers just cut oli' and deposited upon the apron may be carried forward towards the decker by the next movement of said apron. v

To prevent the crackers from sticking to -plate s as the decker rises, -I interpose'a thin metal plate, R, a detached plan view of which is shown in Figure 8. This plate hasas many holes h as there are doughconducting tubes, and each hole is directly in front of a tube. Said holes' are large; enough te permit the prickers and stampers to werk through them, but not quite so large as the cracker when pressed. -Said plate R isattaebed to the decker by means of springs, which hold it up close against the plate s, except when forcibly separated from it, as hereinafter described. rl r are two elastic stops,'one on cacbside of the fra-ine, opposite the decker, with which the ends r2 of said plate R will come in contact as the decker rises, causing said plate R to separate briedy, from the plate s; but'as soon as it has passed by said stops it will be again drawn up te plate s with a sudden jar, which will be' sure to detach any crackers adhering te the decker. y l

In the drawings only three grooves are shown in each ofthe rollers H and IjI; but in a working machine it is proposed to increase the number to fifteen er twenty, or, in fact, to any other number that may be desired within practicable bounds. The said rollers H and H, by means ot'A cog-wheels H2 and H8, are made te rotate together. v I I It will be observed that the Vmachine is sofgeared that, when the decker and the knife are operating, the endless apron and the rollers H and Hl will remain still, and that s aid endless aprons and rollers make their intermittent movements, respectively, while the knife and decker. are not operating.

lHaving thus fully described my machine and its modeef operation, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, isp 1i The conducting-tubes, divided inte parts 'l and T', in combination with the knife K, working between them, substantially as described.

2. The knife K, consisting of a thin plate of sheet instal, provided with holes for the dough topa-ss through, in combination with a spring to throw the knife, and the lever z' and cam z" to move back the knife, so that the dough can again pass through the holes, substantially as described. A 4

3.v The outside tubes or thimbics, working on the lower sections T of the conducting-tubes, .and operated substantially as described. V

4. The decker, consisting of the plates o, p, r, and s, the prickers v, stamper W, and spiral springs S and u, all combined, constructed, andoperating substantially as described, to press, priek,.and stamp a row of crackers at one operation, substantially as described.

5. I claim the mechanism moved by a crank on the main drivingshaft, by means ef which an intermittent' motion is given.' to the grooved rollers', the endless apron, Aand the decker, substantially as described.

6. I also claim, in combination with the decker, the thin plate R, constructed, arranged, and operating substantially as and for the purpose described. i

JOHN E.' HAWKINS. Witnesses:

Finnois RISING, WM. MeMnRnAY. 

